Flesh-eating New World Screwworm could pose health risks to cattle, humans
The news triggered a shutdown of cattle, horse and bison imports along the southern border, as U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins announced in an X post on Sunday.
"Due to the threat of New World Screwworm I am announcing the suspension of live cattle, horse, & bison imports through U.S. southern border ports of entry effective immediately," she wrote in the post.
Dangerous Fungus Could Spread To Parts Of Us, Researchers Claim
"The last time this devastating pest invaded America, it took 30 years for our cattle industry to recover. This cannot happen again."
The NWS is a fly that is endemic in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and some South American countries, according to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
Read On The Fox News App
While the flies themselves are found in forests and other wooded areas, they will seek hosts like cattle or horses in pastures and fields, per the above source.
A female fly lays eggs in a wound or orifice of a live, warm-blooded animal. The eggs then hatch into larvae (maggots) that burrow into the flesh, causing potentially deadly damage.
Measles Scare At Major Airport: What To Know About Potential Exposure
Screwworms are named for their maggots' behavior, as they burrow into the flesh similar to how a screw is driven into wood.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health
"Maggots cause extensive damage by tearing at the hosts' tissue with sharp mouth hooks," according to the APHIS website. This can then enlarge the wound and attract more flies to lay eggs.
In rare cases, the larvae can feed on people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states.
These infestations can be very painful and can cause serious, potentially fatal damage to their hosts by causing myiasis, a parasitic infection of fly larvae in human tissue.
Screwworms are often found in South America and the Caribbean.
"People who travel to these areas, spend time among livestock animals, sleep outdoors and have an open wound are at greater risk of becoming infested with NWS," says the CDC.
People who are immunocompromised, very young or very old, or malnourished are also at a higher risk of infection, the above source stated.
Those who have had recent surgery are also at a higher risk, "as the flies will lay eggs on open sores," according to the CDC.
If another outbreak were to occur in the U.S., "pets, livestock, wildlife and even humans may suffer and die from screwworm myiasis," the USDA warned.
The USDA estimates that livestock producers in the southwestern U.S. lost between $50 million and $100 million annually due to NWS in the 1950s and 1960s until it was successfully eradicated.
Click Here To Sign Up For Our Health Newsletter
"Presumably, these higher losses in the Southwest were due to higher livestock populations, larger geographic area and/or greater potential for NWS to overwinter," stated the report.
While the USDA eradicated NWS in 1966, there was an outbreak contained within the Florida Keys in 2016. It affected only in the endangered deer population and was eradicated by March 2017, per APHIS.
Greg Wehner contributed reporting.Original article source: Flesh-eating New World Screwworm could pose health risks to cattle, humans
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bologna sold by N.J. company recalled due to ‘misbranding'
Gaiser's European Style Provisions has issued a recall for nearly 150,000 pounds of bologna due to misbranding, health officials announced Friday. In total, 143,416 pounds of the New Jersey-based company's ready-to-eat bologna is being recalled because it contains 'meat or poultry source materials that are not declared on the product labels,' the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Safety Inspection Service said. The recalled items include 'Family Tree bologna veal' containing undeclared pork, 'Babushka's recipe chicken bologna' containing undeclared pork, 'Fancy Bologna' labeled with pork but containing undeclared beef and chicken, and 'Gaiser's Russian Brand Doktorskaya Bologna' containing undeclared beef, as well as other products. View a full list of the labels here. The products were produced between March 20 and June 20 and were distributed to wholesale and retail locations nationwide. The issue was discovered following a complaint through the Office of Inspector General's hotline and found that the products contained source materials that were not declared on the label. Health officials said no adverse health effects are expected for the recalled products, and there have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption. Anyone who purchased the products are urged not to consume them and throw them away or return them to the place of purchase. This article was originally published on
CNBC
6 hours ago
- CNBC
Healthy Returns: What to know about a CDC vaccine panel's votes against a mercury preservative in flu shots
A revamped government panel of vaccine advisors with newly appointed immunization skeptics has voted against a mercury-containing shot ingredient that the anti-vaccine movement has long targeted. The group, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, voted Thursday to recommend annual single-dose flu vaccines to Americans and against influenza shots containing thimerosal – even though there is no evidence of harm from that preservative. It was the first ACIP meeting since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gutted the panel and stacked it with new members, including several well-known vaccine skeptics. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still needs to sign off on that recommendation. If the agency does, it would affect roughly 4% to 5% of the U.S. flu vaccine supply. The rest of the nation's flu shots were thimerosal-free during the last season of the virus, according to CDC data. But when it comes to vaccinating an entire country, "small percentages matter," Dr. Sean O'Leary, an infectious disease expert with the American Academy of Pediatrics, told reporters last week. If the few thimerosal-containing flu shots were removed from the market, "that would inevitably lead to fewer people being vaccinated, at least in the short term, perhaps longer term, and subsequently more hospitalizations and deaths," O'Leary said. The recommendation also reinforces longstanding, unfounded fears that the substance can lead to developmental disabilities, such as autism. Kennedy's vaccine skepticism comes full circle with the panel's vote: A decade before stepping into his current role, he published a book that called for the removal of thimerosal from shots and linked it to developmental disorders. "A very common anti-vaccine talking point is around thimerosal, so that's a very clear strategy to sow distrust in vaccines," O'Leary said. Here's why thimerosal is important. It has been widely used for decades as a preservative to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria in several medicines and vaccines with multiple doses. More than 40 studies over many decades have found no link between thimerosal and developmental delays. But its use in approved vaccines has dropped sharply as manufacturers have shifted to single-dose packaging for their shots, which doesn't require preservatives. The Food and Drug Administration around 25 years ago asked manufacturers to remove the substance from childhood vaccines out of an abundance of caution, not because of evidence of harm, according to the CDC. "The thought was, well, mercury is a scary sounding word, and let's just get it out, let's just make this a non-issue," O'Learly said. He added that "many studies have shown that it is entirely safe, is not associated with any neurodevelopmental disorders or any other adverse effects." Some multi-dose forms of flu vaccines for adults still contain thimerosal, including Sanofi's Fluzone and two shots from biotech company CSL Seqirus. One member of the panel, Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, said he was worried that discouraging the use of multidose vials could increase the cost of vaccination and limit access for some groups. He also expressed concerns about the message the recommendation would send to other countries where the use of multi-dose flu vaccines is more common. "That might limit the availability of the influenza vaccine for some people," he said during the meeting after he voted against restricting thimerosal flu vaccines. Before the votes at the meeting, Lyn Redwood, a nurse practitioner who has been involved with anti-vaccine organizations, presented on thimerosal in flu vaccines. Redwood is among the "mercury moms" who pushed for Kennedy to get involved with mercury and children's health. She has also served for years as president of Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine organization founded by Kennedy. Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at Health-care data platform Arcadia has been acquired by the private equity firm Nordic Capital, the companies announced on Tuesday. Arcadia turns health-care data into predictive insights that payers and providers can use to help improve care for patients, reduce costs and increase revenue. The company characterized the deal with Nordic Capital as a "strategic partnership" where the firm will become the "majority owner" of Arcadia, according to a release. Michael Meucci, Arcadia's CEO, said working with Nordic Capital will allow Arcadia to continue to improve its customer experience, expand on its artificial intelligence capabilities, explore new M&A opportunities and drive growth in its core segments, including value-based care. "It's hugely validating," Meucci told CNBC in an interview. "It's validating that there are large-cap institutional investors who are as committed to transforming us (U.S.?) health care and global health care as we have been." Arcadia and Nordic Capital did not disclose the terms of the acquisition. The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year, though it's still subject to regulatory approvals. Meucci said he's known the Nordic Capital team for a couple years, and that the firm had been watching Arcadia's progress as a business. Arcadia is profitable and carried out a successful acquisition last year. Meucci said these milestones helped Nordic Capital feel confident that the company was ready for its next stage of growth. Arcadia last raised outside funding in 2023, when it announced $125 million in financing from Vista Credit Partners. Nordic Capital's acquisition serves as an exit for earlier investors, Arcadia said. "This partnership aligns seamlessly with Nordic Capital's investment strategy and Nordic Capital is excited to support Arcadia in its next phase of growth," Daniel Berglund, partner and co-head of health care at Nordic Capital, said in a statement. TripleTree served as Nordic Capital's financial advisor for the transaction, and Lazard advised Arcadia. "This is just a further reinforcement of our mission, that we have to change the cost of health care," Meucci said. Read the full release here. Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Ashley at
Washington Post
6 hours ago
- Washington Post
Inside RFK Jr.'s push to change vaccines in America
The meeting of the new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in Atlanta on June 26. Every year, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) gathers to discuss vaccinations and make recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This year, however, the panelists are all new to the job and were all handpicked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who has expressed skepticism of vaccines. Today on 'Post Reports,' host Elahe Izadi speaks with two of The Washington Post's health reporters, Lena Sun and Lauren Weber, about last week's controversial ACIP meeting, and what the future of vaccines in the United States could look like under Kennedy's leadership. Today's show was produced by Emma Talkoff, with help from Thomas Lu. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick, with help from Reena Flores and mixed by Sam Bair. Thanks to Lynh Bui and Fenit Nirappil. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.
